"The match should surely have been stopped": the Government criticizes the lack of reaction to the Islamophobic chants of Spain-Egypt

BarcelonaThe Generalitat raises its voice against the Islamophobic chants that this Wednesday marked the Spain-Egypt football match in Cornellà-El Prat. The Minister of Sports, Berni Álvarez, has "resoundingly" condemned the events that took place in the stadium, which was hosting the Spanish national team's return to Catalonia, and has expressed his "concern" both for what he has described as a "serious episode" and for the reaction of the match's organization.

"They were slow with the protocols," he said in statements to SER Catalunya, and argued that the match "surely" should have been stopped. Álvarez, who explained that during halftime he communicated his opinion to the heads of the Spanish and Catalan federations, considered that the announcements made to the public via the big screen and loudspeakers should have been made much earlier, "right at the start of the match," to show more "forcefulness."

Once the match, which ended in a goalless draw, was over, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzán, condemned the shouts of "Muslims, jump!" but sought to downplay their significance, calling them "isolated and specific situations." Immediately after, he lamented the impact of the events on the "image" of sport and football, which should be an "example."

In a message this morning on social media, the Spanish government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, also condemned the "racist chants" which he attributed to "a section of people in the stands." "At that time, we already informed the organizers to activate the relevant protocols, which was done," he said, considering the reaction in the stadium to have been appropriate. "But the stain remains with us and should make us reflect as a society," he added.

The Spanish coach, Luis de la Fuente, expressed his "total and absolute rejection" of "any racist, xenophobic and disrespectful attitude". The coach said that the chants had been "intolerable", although he qualified that "the vast majority of the stadium" had booed the "unpresentable" individuals who uttered the Islamophobic slogans. "They must be identified and removed from society," he added.

In this morning's interview, the Sports counselor attributed the chants to the "far-right" and stated that "everything was very organized". "The feeling on the field was that many of the people singing probably had no connection to the world of sports," he said, distancing Espanyol's fans and the Catalan club from the "hate speech" that marked the match of the Roja.

Alvarez, however, said he "would perfectly understand" if FIFA imposed some kind of sanction for the events experienced in Cornellá, and at the same time asked to "try to ensure that the people in the stadium and Espanyol are not seriously affected".

The Government representative also trusts that all this will not affect the preparation of the 2030 World Cup, which Spain, Portugal and Morocco are organizing and of which Barcelona wants to be one of the main venues. "We have to work hard so that beyond the sports organization [...] this hate speech decreases," he said, making it clear that "what happened yesterday was going back many years".

"It is fascism, friends"

In addition to the shouts against Islam – which ignored that Lamine Yamal, the star of the Spanish team and who was precisely cheered, is Muslim –, the stadium also heard shouts of "Puigdemont to prison", "Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch" and slogans like "Gibraltar is Spanish", as well as calls for the resignation of Javier Tebas, president of the Football League.

Aside from that of the delegate in Catalonia, the reaction of the Spanish government through the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente. In a message on X, he denounced that "what happened yesterday in Cornellá is the consequence of what the racist and xenophobic right has been feeding for years", a situation that he believes has the "complicity" of some media outlets that "today do not put their hand to their head". "It is fascism, friends", he stressed.